The Council of Councils Working Group on Trans-NIH Research Opportunities in Basic Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (bBSSR) releases an updated report. The report highlights advances in scientific approaches, new discoveries, and increased funding for bBSSR by NIH.

In FY2021, OBSSR, along with IC partners, publishes NOFOs to conduct research on firearm injury and mortality prevention and recommended that NIH take a comprehensive approach to studying the underlying causes and evidence-based methods of prevention of firearm injury, including crime prevention. NIH awards 10 grants in response to two funding announcements (PAR-21-191, PAR-21-192).

In March 2020, OBSSR, along with partnering NIH institutes and centers, publishes funding opportunity announcements for research to improve the understanding of determinants of firearm injury, the identification of those at risk of firearm injury (including both victims and perpetrators), the development and evaluation of innovative interventions to prevent firearm injury and mortality, and the examination of approaches to improve the implementation of existing, evidence-based interventions to prevent firearm injury and mortality. Additional funding opportunities were released in 2021.

In April 2020, NIH, with OBSSR collaboration and support, launches the Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics (RADx) Initiative to develop rapid, easy-to-use, accurate testing and make it available nationwide.

In January 2020, OBSSR spearheads efforts for an agreement among NIH, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the National Center for Health Statistics. Through this agreement, NIH reimburses the NCHS National Death Index (NDI) for the costs of NIH-supported investigators to link its research databases with the NDI for research aims supported by NIH.

An NIH-wide planning group led by the National Cancer Institute and OBSSR convenes a panel of leaders in the social and behavioral sciences and in public health to summarize evidence-informed communication strategies in support of national coronavirus vaccine distribution efforts across federal agencies and their state and local partners.

OBSSR, in collaboration with NIH institutes and centers, helps to establish standard data collection protocols for COVID-19 research using the PhenX Toolkit, a catalog of recommended measurement protocols suitable for use in a variety of research study designs involving human participants.